Natasha Lyonne’s Pronunciation of “Cockroach” is The Line Read of The Year

Sweet birthday baaaaby I love Russian Doll. Created by the creative dream team of Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne, and Amy Poehler, Netflix’s Groundhog Day meets Lost meets Search Party meets chill bodega cat comedy is my current obsession. If you have yet to experience the show’s razor-sharp charm and inexhaustible vivacity, the series is the perfect weekend binge, with all eight episodes only taking about three and a half hours to watch.

There’s a lot to love about Russian Doll. The writing is crisp, Natasha Lyonne is a transfixing supernova of charisma, and the series is aggressively New York. It’s not NYC shown through the eyes of Hollywood — a mustachioed man in a tracksuit barking “I’m walkin’ here!” as a Sex and the City tour bus cuts him off, all while a shopworn Times Square Elmo with big dreams and dirty faux fur hums the Alicia Keys section of “Empire State of Mind” — it’s an authentic portrayal of life in Alphabet City. Russian Doll exudes an ineffable swagger. It’s confident. It just gets it, ya know? Sure, we could spend time analyzing the mysterious or supernatural aspects of the series, but I’d rather discuss the absolute best part of Russian Doll: Natasha Lyonne’s pronunciation of the word cockroach.

In the pilot episode, Lyonne’s character (Nadia) believes a joint she smoked may have been laced with a potentially nefarious substance (other than cocaine). Nadia’s friend Maxine (Greta Lee) likens our hero’s resolve to that of one of New York’s most resilient nuisances: a cockroach.

“Come on, Nads. Stop acting like such a victim,” Maxine says. “You’re cockroach!” Nadia strenuously disagrees with Maxine’s assertion. “I am not a cockroach,” Nadia replies. “Why would you call me a cockroach? What does that even fucking mean, a cockroach?”

What makes this scene so memorable is that Lyonne pronounces the word with an extra syllable. Instead of cockroach she says “cock-a-roach” or “kakaroach.” Evidently, I wasn’t the only one who noticed this unique lingual quirk.

Is this a regional pronunciation? A bold theatrical choice? Evidence suggests that this is the way Lyonne has always pronounced the word. The actress even weighed-in on the matter in a recent tweet.

Regardless, Natasha Lyonne’s delivery of “I am not a cock-a-roach” deserves its very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as does her animated reaction to Maxine saying that Nadia will never die.

“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes…”

Stream Russian Doll on Netflix